Moderator of the Month

Each month, the DDR Freak population decides on a moderator of the month by a poll. The moderator selected is an example of the best our forums offer and go above and beyond the call of duty.

Name: Drew

Age: 25

Location: In Transit

So this is your second time (First Interview) winning Mod of the Month. How does it feel?: Well, I never thought of myself as the sort to be popular or admired or have a following or anything like that, so it's rather weird for me. What is wrong with you people?

You recently went on your first E3 trip with your fellow staff members. What was that like for you?: It was very awesome. It was cool to be able to see the faces behind the handles. I got to get to know some of my friends really well, and I also got to meet a lot of cool people that I don't ordinarily talk to. It was definitely the highlight of the trip, compared to the expo itself.

What were you most impressed with at the actual expo this year?: The cynic in me would say "I was incredibly impressed how Rockstar got such a large booth space while having only one real franchise with new entries every few years." But truthfully, I think the most impressive thing I saw was the number of Japanese visitors at the Nintendo booth, compared against any of the other booths this year. We talk all the time about the most elite of the hardcore gamers go to SpaceWorld and Tokyo Game Show, but it was unexpected to see the reverse happening.

Any disappointments with it?: The Square-Enix booth was probably the most disappointing to me. Some of you probably know I play Final Fantasy XI. Well, in addition to nothing really new being shown that we hadn't already seen on the Internet, they showed the exact same stuff for FFXI that they had last year. Many of us were expecting an announcement or revelation about a new expansion pack, as opposed to the trumpeting of the one that had been out for eight months at the time.

One of the biggest dancing game related dramas of E3 was the introduction of ITG at the Red Octane booth. What are your thoughts on the ITG vs. DDR drama that has been rampant as of late?: It has quieted down somewhat lately. I don't want to toot our horn here, but I think DDR Freak itself may be responsible for some of the better relations we've fostered between the two groups. Since we're catering to both crowds and embracing them both, we're helping to keep both of them in perspective. Ultimately, it's about the games and enjoying what you do, and while people have different tastes, just because they're different doesn't mean we have to be at war with each other. I still have yet to try ITG (we can blame J Dogg for that - where's my copy? ), but I'm sure that however much I wind up enjoying ITG, I'll still also be able to appreciate DDR, and I think that's a mindset we should all take. I'd like to send congratulations to the Roxor team on a very successful product launch, and we all look forward to seeing what comes next!

Where do you see the future of the Dancing Game Genre going?: The future of the dancing game genre is very clouded. Some will say that there's not much room left for innovation, but ITG has demonstrated that this isn't necessarily true. Of course, the desire for said innovation has to be there, and I think we're all kinda waiting to see what Konami's next non-litigious move is going to be. Considering that both the pop'n music and IIDX franchises have each had more installments than DDR while having fewer "innovations" demonstrates that it could go on for a while longer. Will people still want to play it? Time will tell, I suppose. That said, is there room outside of the 4-panel and 5-panel standards? Sure, but I haven't seen anything yet that's as compelling as DDR.

Final thoughts?: I'd like to thank J Dogg and the rest of the DDR Freak staff for trusting me and bringing me on. In addition to my moderator stint, I've done some work here and there on the website itself which has helped me keep my wits and my brains together after a bad employment experience, and it's been a lot of fun to work here. I like being able to make people happy and help keep this ship running as well as it does. So, cheers to all, and thanks for making this place as great as it is.